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Gray Boy
Nicholas, better known as Gray Boy, is a founding member of the Slaughterhouse Nine. Personality Gray Boy seems to be dangerously unstable, even for one of the Nine. Bonesaw speculated that it would be very much like him to freeze someone just because he could, and that Jack had asked for only one clone of him because he could only keep one under control. - Excerpt from Interlude 25 The original Gray Boy would not have known how to operate a computer, but Bonesaw's version possessed memories and skills taken from a child.A computer monitor on the desk flickered to life. “I’m excited,” Jack said. “Gray Boy is working on getting the video up. Funny thing. The real Gray Boy wouldn’t be able to do this, but we gave this one the memories of a real child. Came with the necessary skills. I’m almost disappointed. People are so much more interesting when they’re flawed, aren’t they? Oh, here we go. I haven’t even seen this. Let’s see…” - Excerpt from Sting 26.6 He usually used his powers to torture people, inflicting pain that would repeat over and over. When Purity disobeyed him, he devised a "special" punishment - she was left unharmed, but trapped, with the promise that he would eventually return and trap her daughter alongside her. On one occasion, he arbitrarily demanded a victim tell him an "interesting" story while torturing them, with the promise that they would be left unharmed if he liked it. He grew angry at Jack Slash when they attempted to flee the heroes together, telling him that he was making himself "prey, instead of the predator." Reputation Even after his death Gray Boy was the most feared villain to have ever been part of the Slaughterhouse Nine.Gray Boy (Status Unknown) – Once a member of the Nine, one of Jack’s first teammates. Has been referenced in passing several times, with a measure of awe or fear. - Cast (in depth) Appearance Nicholas is prepubescent in appearance, older than ten but younger than fourteen, with neatly parted hair and a private school uniform complete with glossy black shoes. His voice is high and clear.Excerpt from Interlude 26b He has a monochrome effect surrounding him, with spots of light and shadow flickering around him. Periodically he flickered, a transparent double image momentarily overlapping him looking in a different direction.The boy stepped out, and there was no sign of any difficulty. He didn’t struggle as others had, nor have trouble finding his feet. He was prepubescent, to look at him, older than ten but younger than fourteen. His hair was neatly parted, and he wore a private school uniform, complete with glossy black shoes. Dry. Even though he was naked in the tube. Then again, that was sort of his thing. One of them, anyways. Visually, the most notable part of him was the effect that surrounded him. He was monochrome, all grays and whites and blacks, with spots of light and shadow flickering around him. Here and there, he flickered, a double image momentarily overlapping him, ghostly, looking in a different direction. As far as parahuman powers went, his was as unfair as they got. “Jack,” Gray Boy said. His voice was high, clear as a bell. - Excerpt from Interlude 25 Abilities and Powers Nicholas is able to form stationary time loops, and his power reverts any changes made to his body. A quirk of his power is that anything affected is heavily desaturated, giving him his namesake monochrome look. Gray Boy was the only one who could enter the loops.Gray Boy is the only person who may be able to touch her, but that doesn't mean Bonesaw can't give him a few things. - Interlude 26a During these loops, the only changes to the victim to carry over are those he inflicts on them (such as a cut or burn) and in the progression of their thoughts. Pain inflicted on the victims is repeated over and over again.Nicholas Gray Boy Can trap those around him in manipulable time loops of pain at will. Undoes any damage taken/negative effects applied via. his power. - Parahuman List, bolded edit by Wildbow. Gray Boy can modify the time between loops, extending them to give victims time to speak full words or shortening them to more quickly repeat the initial burst of pain from a wound. However, he claimed to be unable to turn it off for anyone except himself. The powers of anyone trapped inside them were unable to reach out of the loop.The well trapped powers within. Kayden's lasers wouldn't exit the area. Crusader's duplicates wouldn't be able to wander beyond the well's limits. - Interlude 26a He claimed that victims would usually go insane after a few days, then work through that back to sanity, then crack again, in an endless cycle. He also claimed that they never grew used to the pain he inflicted. The loops last for an unknown amount of time, as no loop he has created has ever stopped. Gray Boy told one of his victims that it was theorized that his loops would last “''Until well after the sun goes out,'' ...".Sting 26.6 However, Wildbow has stated that they would not actually last forever or even until the sun runs out, though he also questioned whether that would actually matter after the first few thousand years of torture.If it helps, Gray Boy's power doesn't really last forever. Or even until the sun runs out. After a few thousand years though, you have to wonder if it matters. - Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles Gray Boy can affect an area roughly 5' across and 8' high,soulpelt|: Hmmm Soulpelt|: how large an area could Grey Boy affect, Wildbow? Howdy: I'm unconvinced Gray Boy would work on Endbringers. notes: And there's the argument for Taylor using Grey Boy's defense only being seriously underestimated. Howdy: Their rule seems to be "anything that could beat me doesn't work." El: She can still create an indestructible wall, right? Wildbow: Roughly 5' across and 8' high soulpelt| Hmmm El Try caging one of them, or just use it as a forcefield Alathon: not very good for the city she's doing it in Howdy: Nothing is indestructible in Worm... Alathon: and better be hella careful about friendly fire soulpelt|: I thought stuff affected by the power was basically intangible. Alathon: hm Howdy: There are powers we don't see defeated but it defies credulity to believe that any power is absolute, when we know the genesis of powers. Alathon: I just remember the siberian seeming to touch one Wildbow: Chances are good Gray Boy's power would bind one of the Endbringer's limbs, it would pull free, doing massive damage to itself. soulpelt|: Huh, okay Wildbow: And it would likely stop holding back up until Gray Boy was dead soulpelt|: so it is tangible. ... soulpelt|: (then you have random bits of Endbringer flesh in the air.) Alathon could gray boy go all the way in and out? or just reach in? Wildbow: If you have multiple effects in place and you trap the whole Endbringer, it'll count as dead. Wildbow: All the way in and out. Alathon: so he could step inside his bubble Wildbow: Yeah ... Alathon: does his power go out from inside his bubble? Alathon: by rights.. he should be able to solo leviathan with that Wildbow: No. - Answer by Wildbow on IRC, archived on Spacebattles and was able to freeze a ten-foot high "wall" of air on one occasion. He claimed it operated at the "speed of thought", and that he believed no-one was immune to it. He was able to freeze Foil's darts in midair.Interlude 26a His power also makes him effectively immortal, constantly restoring his body to the exact condition it was in when he first got his powers. This prevented him from aging or even getting dirty. He retained memories despite his constant reversion.The corpse flickered, and Gray Boy reappeared, sitting atop the forearm of the hand that had squashed him. He hopped down. His time loop power protected him. Any time he was hurt, any time he was debilitated, his power would kick in, taking him back as far as he needed, allowing him to maintain his position if he wanted. He'd remain conscious, retain any recollection, and with his offensive power, he could shut down any threat. It was that same power that kept him from aging. Aging was a danger, change was a problem, so he continually retained his appearance from the very moment he'd triggered, reverting back several times an hour, or any time he even got dirty. - Excerpt from Interlude 26a Any time he was hurt or debilitated, his power would take him back as far as he needed, allowing him to maintain his position if he wanted or move out of the way.The D.T. officer had turned the containment foam onto Gray Boy. Except Gray Boy reappeared, out of the way of the stream. The containment foam froze in mid-air. - Excerpt from Interlude 26b Only two people can permanently kill Gray Boy; Glaistig UaineInterlude 27.xExtinction 27.5 and Foil.She threw a handful of darts through the Siberian and Gray Boy’s head as his back was turned. The Siberian flickered out of existence as Gray Boy collapsed. Neither reappeared, healthy or otherwise. - Excerpt from Interlude 26b Gray Boy knew Bonesaw's name before she told him, and she believed he - like Jack - was aware she planned to betray the Nine. It is unclear what aspect of his powers allowed this.“Bonesaw,” he said, voicing a name she hadn’t programmed into him. His hand found hers, and he held it. She felt a chill. “We’ll be inseparable, I think. ... ”Gray Boy squeezed her hand. She would have jumped, if her body language wasn’t in the system’s control. She looked at him, and he winked. Her expression hadn’t wavered, she hadn’t allowed herself the slightest tell, but somehow he fell in the same category as Jack. He knew. - Excerpt from Interlude 25 He had no special ability to aim his attacks, and didn't receive feedback from his power regarding what he'd hit. History Background Ignis Fatuus claimed, while trying to break the spirit of the forces arrayed against Echidna, that Gray Boy was inadvertently created by Cauldron, much like Shatterbird and The Siberian had been. They sold him powers, but were seemingly unable to control him when he went out of bounds.We created the Gray Boy, selling him powers, finding ourselves unable to stop him when he went out of bounds. - Ignis Fatuus speaking in Scourge 19.6 Doctor Mother confirmed that Cauldron were ultimately responsible for Gray Boy.“Gray Boy? Siberian? Human experimentation?” “Yes to all of the above,” Doctor Mother said. “I won’t lie to you at this juncture.” - Excerpt from 27.x (Interlude, Eidolon) He became one of the founding members of the Slaughterhouse Nine.Her eyes tracked the rows and columns of incubation chambers. They weren’t her field either. A different row for each member of the Slaughterhouse Nine, past or present. King Screamer Harbinger Breed Crimson Gray Boy Nyx Psychosoma There were ten of each in various glass chambers. The original members. - Excerpt from Interlude 25 The original Gray Boy was similar to Labyrinth at her least lucid; using his powers indiscriminately while staying within an area. King was effectively immune to him, as any attack used on King would be transferred to someone he had touched within the last 24 hours. His immunity to Gray Boy's power allowed him to lead him around and wield him as a weapon. He used this to introduce himself and his Nine to the world as a threat so dangerous they were essentially immune to retaliation.King had a flimsy hold, Jack had a stronger hold. The former Gray Boy was closer to a Labyrinth in full-on powers mode than anything else. Using powers indiscriminately, staying within an area. King was effectively immune to him, and used this to introduce himself and start leading him around. Jack cheats. He instinctively, intuitively knows how other parahumans operate, their weak points and their motivations, and was able to leverage original Gray Boy in this way, and the new Gray Boy in a similar way. Cauldron permitted Gray Boy because he was the closest thing to a weapon they had against Scion since Eidolon. When the S9 started picking up and more parahumans started getting removed from the fiend than Gray Boy was theoretically worth, they moved in. Manuevering Glaistig Uaine into taking him over, so the power would still be in play.- Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles He was one of Jack Slash's "first teammates" in the Slaughterhouse Nine.Interlude 19.x King had only a flimsy hold over Gray Boy, but Jack's hold was stronger due to the thinker aspects of his power. Cauldron allowed Gray Boy to survive because he was the closest thing to a weapon they had against Scion since Eidolon. When the Slaughterhouse Nine started picking up momentum and more powerful parahumans started getting removed from the field than Gray Boy was theoretically worth, they moved in, maneuvering Glaistig Uaine into taking his power for herself, so that Gray Boy's power would still be available even with the original Gray Boy being dead. Post-Timeskip Jack Slash had been sure to tell Bonesaw bedtime stories about him. As such she took particular care when she resurrected him for the Slaughterhouse Nine-Thousand. Gray Boy was the only member who she only cloned once,Interlude 20.x at Jack's explicit instruction. The cloned Gray Boy had skills the original lacked due to Bonesaw implanting the body of the clone with the modified memories of an actual child. He stepped out of the cloning chamber fully clothed and dry; unlike the other clones, he didn't struggle before finding his feet. He greeted Jack Slash and approached Bonesaw. The two had a brief, seemingly friendly conversation.Interlude 25 The cloned Gray Boy was shown to be completely lucid and highly sadistic. Due to the unique circumstances where Gray Boy's power restored his original body, it is unknown whether his power also restored his original memories and personality in addition to the new memories implanted by Bonesaw, or if his personality was purely Bonesaw's construction. Gray Boy was sent to retrieve Aster as part of Jack's game with Theo, and he trapped Crusader, Purity and two PRT agents in loops. He told one of the PRT agents that he wouldn't torture her if she told him a story he found interesting; she chose to tell him the details of the heroes' plans to prevent Jack ending the world. He was eventually killed by Foil, but not before he turned on Jack Slash, trapping him in a time loop and torturing him.Excerpt from Interlude 26b Gold Morning Glaistig Uaine made use of him. Trivia *In previous drafts of Worm, Gray Boy was usually an independent villain. Some versions of him would shunt people into the future, during which they experienced sensory deprivation, rather than looping them; he began sending people thousands or millions of years when he was "broken mentally" during that story. **His power was inspired by Wildbow thinking "What's a horrible thing you can do with power, as a variant?"Gray Boy is one of those characters that cropped up a lot in the drafts. Where Bonesaw sort of found her way to various teams in the drafts, Gray Boy was usually a loner. An independent who might have been in the same in-story role as Kaiser, with various tweaks to powers. So you think, just in general, "What's a horrible thing you can do with power, as a variant?" Fire goes out of control, that's sort of a metaphor for Burnscar. Water, Leviathan. Lightning strikes, there's not a fucking lot you can normally do about being struck by lightning. Remember the last chapter of Migration? Peaks are higher, valleys are lower. It's just a question of scale. Gray Boy was a fairly natural leap from 'time power'. I think in another variation, he just shunted you a duration into the future. For all intents and purposes, you disappeared, but you got to experience the ride in real time. In that incarnation, he was broken mentally, he started to shunt people around by thousands or tens of thousands or millions of years instead of the usual. Similar idea, less visceral, harder to get on paper. Idea gets refined, given his short appearance and need to 'show' more, and you wind up with this. - Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles *It is theorized that Nicholas took the Vestige formula, the same cauldron vial as Perdition and possibly Epoch. Fanart Gallery Grey boy.jpg|Image by Pabel and Nine.|link= GBdeltasulfur6102.jpg|'' Art by delta-sulfur on deviantart |link=http://fav.me/db7qckl BwahahaGB.jpg| Art by What is Sleep on tumblr. 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